Terror support charges against Fla. man dismissed

MIAMI (AP) — Charges have been dropped against a South Florida man accused of raising tens of thousands of dollars with his father and brother for the Pakistani Taliban terror group.

U.S. District Judge Robert Scola on Tuesday dropped terrorism support charges against Irfan Khan.

Khan, his father, Hafiz Khan, and his younger brother, Izhar Khan, were charged in April 2011 along with three others with collecting and funneling at least $50,000 to the Pakistani Taliban. The group has been linked to al-Qaida and prosecutors say it played a role in a failed attempt to bomb Times Square in New York in May 2010, among other attacks.

The charges remain against Hafiz and Izhar Khan. Both are imams at local mosques.

The indictment filed last year accused Irfan Khan of being a Pakistani Taliban sympathizer who helped collect and deliver money to the terrorist group. He and others were charged with soliciting financial support in the U.S. intended for the purchase of guns and shelter for Taliban members and those in training.

Irfan Khan had been accused of making three wire transfers of nearly $1,000 each to Pakistan in the spring of 2008. He was also accused of participating in a conversation in which his father called for an attack on the Pakistani Assembly.

No explanation for the dismissal of the charges was provided in the judge's order.

Alicia Valle, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami, said prosecutors moved to dismiss all charges against the defendant, but that she was, "unable to comment on the internal deliberations that led to our decision."

An attorney for Irfan Khan did not immediately return a request for comment.